Chopin: Waltz in A Minor “Found in New York” (2024 World Premiere Recording) - Single

Chopin rarely makes headline news today, despite being no stranger to controversy during his lifetime. But the 19th-century Polish composer returned to the media spotlight at the end of October 2024 following the discovery of the manuscript of a previously unknown Waltz in A minor with his name inscribed on it. The minute-long piece, provisionally dated to the early 1830s, surfaced from a collection of papers donated to the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City. The short piece has now been given its recorded premiere by Lang Lang, his passionate performance seemingly rubber-stamping the claim that the rediscovered work is indeed by Chopin—and not just by one of his pupils. “I really think it’s by him,” Lang Lang tells Apple Music Classical. “This is how I reacted when I got the score, and I think normally that first reaction is the most important one. When I started reading the score and looking at the manuscript, it's very much in Chopin’s style. The only question for me was whether this was complete or just part of a piece.” The music, written on a single side of a small manuscript page (possibly intended as a gift for a patron’s autograph album), is marked to be played and then to be repeated. “So it could be complete as it is, or he might have gone on to develop it.” Lang Lang’s performance extracts every drop of drama and lyricism from the waltz, revealing its expressive complexity. “This is very much Chopin’s work, in the poetry, the storytelling, the music’s colourful cloud, which you can say because there are so many different layers of emotion with this lyrical melodic line. It's a part of this melancholy style in his music, comparable to his Preludes, I would say. When you have a composer like Chopin, you don't have to push him. The music is so genuine, it connects with people’s hearts.” The collection from which the waltz emerged belonged to the academic, pianist and philanthropist Arthur Satz, and was donated to the Morgan Library following his death in 2018. It is likely that Lang Lang is the first person to have played the piece in public since its composition almost two centuries ago. “This is really remarkable,” he notes. “I mean, you can’t imagine that this is possible. It's a new piece by Chopin, the most popular pianist composer in the world!”